Super Sunday: Which NHL Stars Could Play Football?

Most North American sports fans are probably spending Sunday watching the Super Bowl. That got me thinking, which NHL stars have the best attributes to potentially cross over to the NFL? As all hockey fans know, hockey players are the best athletes. These top performers do their craft on frozen water every night, grass and cleats would be no problem!

These four forwards are big, nasty and hard to defend when they have the puck in the corner. Nash is having an awesome year with the Rangers and uses his 6’4″ frame to shield off defenders. Likewise Brent Burns known for his butt-checks on the ice, would be terrific at knocking over defenders and getting free inside the red-zone.

Outside Linebackers

Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins), Brian Boyle (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Zdeno Chara (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)

You want to talk about knocking down passes at the line of scrimmage, Chara 6’9″ and Boyle 6’8″ would be a menace for opposing quarterbacks trying to get passes off from the pocket.

These two way centers are puck hawks, always around the puck, they are puck magnets if you will. They always seem to be in the right place to create turnovers.

Shut Down Corners

Marc-Edouard Vlasic might not maintain his recent offensive production over the remainder of the current NHL season, but he is a steady contributor that could definitely help out managers that are in a pinch. (James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports)

Strong Safeties

These defensemen provide an intimidating force out the on ice and would do so on the gridiron as well. Subban may not have the size as some of these other defenders but he loves to throw his weight around and does so effectively.

Wide Receivers

Goal scorers who aren’t afraid to go to the dirty areas to score goals. Ovechkin would be the closest thing hockey has to offer to the Detroit Lion’s Megatron wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Zach Parise is analogous to New England receiver Julian Edleman.

What do all these players have in common? They are all the best players on their respective squads. Each one can make passes into the smallest of windows with the game on the line. They put their teams on their backs and carry them to victory. Each one has the savvy on the power-play to distribute to the open player where others may force it into coverage.

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